Cheetah

Watford  Sports  Cars  Limited

Woodmans Yard       High Street      Watford      Herts.
(Opposite Benskins Brewery)
Telephone:  WATFORD  29466

The Watford Cheetah was designed and built by former employees of Tornado Cars LTD, B.J. Millar, K.J. Hynder and J.G. Bound. Launched in 1959 the Cheetah  chassis and body units could be bought separately for the price of £70 and £130 respectively. But as they were made to go together there seemed little point and all Cheetahs known to survive have both the Watford chassis and body.

As can be seen from the photo, the chassis is very similar to the Tornado chassis and with claims in their sales booklet of "a frame of great rigidity and strength with the minimum of weight at low cost" you would expect that it was of the highest quality. But these guys had obviously learnt very little from Bill Woodhouse and Co and subsequent owners have found stress cracks in the main rails adjacent to the drivers feet and also in the out rigger at the rear to which the petrol tank is mounted. This area has no triangulation and so a butt welded ladder frame is expected to take all the stress.

After all that they did make a very pretty and very well made and designed body shell. This, like the chassis was of 8` wheelbase and came complete with floor, bulkhead, two occasional rear seats, bootbase and was completely waterproof.

Extras included a wrap round windscreen, hard top and fibreglass hub caps for Ford 17" wheels.

Prices and specification never changed throughout its production which seemed to cease in late 1961.